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NFIB Weekly News

News summary from NFIB.

On its front page, the Wall Street Journal (8/5, A1, Gryta, Subscription Publication) credited lower tax rates and a healthy economy for a surge in profits at the nation’s largest companies. According to Thomson Reuters, in the three month period ending in June, profits at S&P 500 companies increased an estimated 23.5%.

Cincinnati Enquirer (8/5), Small Business Administrator Linda McMahon wrote that “in December, President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law,” meaning “most small businesses will now be able to deduct 20 percent off their business income in addition to having their taxable income taxed at lower rates,” and, “for the first five years, they’ll be able to write off investments in new equipment the year the investment is made.” McMahon added, “workers’ pay is improving, too” as a result of the tax cuts. She writes, “In surveys done by the United States Chamber of Commerce, CNBC, NFIB, and the National Association of Manufacturers, members report their highest-ever levels of optimism.” McMahon said, “this truly is a golden age for small business,” citing unemployment rate, wage and job creation statistics to demonstrate the positive impact of tax reform on the economy.

Small Businesses Turning To Tech To Streamline Operations, Not Replace Human Labor. (07/31/2018)

CNBC (7/29) reported that small businesses are investing more money in technology “to streamline operations.” However, contrary to the common misconception that increased use of technology will replace the need for human labor, data from the NFIB Research Center shows that “36 percent of small companies were not able to fill open positions in June, matching the survey’s record high from November 2000.” Moreover, although “mastering technology can be a challenge even for businesses that were themselves born from tech platforms,” some small business owners accepting the need for change and “embracing tech solutions to make life easier for themselves and their employees.”

Administration Rescinds Persuader Rule. (07/24/2018)

The Hill (7/17, Wheeler) reported that the Administration rescinded a “controversial Obama-era rule” that would force employers to disclose the hiring of outside consultants to counter union organizing efforts. Labor Department Office of Policy deputy assistant secretary Nathan Mehrens was quoted saying, “By rescinding this Rule, the Department stands up for the rights of Americans to ask a question of their attorney without mandated disclosure to the government.” In November 2016, a federal court blocked nationwide implementation of the rule, which “marked a win for the National Federation of Independent Business, which challenged the rule, arguing it violated employers’ First Amendment rights to free speech and would prevent employers from seeking legal counsel.”

The White House (7/10) last Tuesday released a “What They Are Saying” round-up on responses to President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court. The round-up quotes a statement from NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan: “Judge Kavanaugh has a proven record of interpreting the U.S. Constitution according to its original meaning and has ruled consistently against regulatory agencies whose interpretation of the law exceeds its statutory authority … Every small business owner has a stake in the next Supreme Court Justice, and we support the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh.”

Small Business Optimism Index Remains Historically High. (07/10/2018)

NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index for June was the sixth-highest reading in survey history. The index saw a 0.6-point decrease to 107.2. Despite the slight decline, since December 2016, the Index has averaged 105.4, significantly above the 45-year average of 98 and nearing the all-time high of 108.0 in July 1983. NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan said, “Small business owners continue to report astounding optimism as they celebrate strong sales, the creation of jobs, and more profits. The first six months of the year have been very good to small business thanks to tax cuts, regulatory reform, and policies that help them grow.” Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said, “There was a fractional decline in the Index from May to June, statistically insignificant. Small business owners are already seeing their bottom lines grow due to strong sales and regulatory relief and the new tax law is expected to push profits higher as the year progresses.”

Axios (8/5, Atkinson) reported that while the nation is “in the midst of its longest-ever streak of job growth, some American industries are having problems finding workers to fill their openings.” While many of the industries in question “pay well and provide ample benefits,” they are “often physically demanding or mentally stressful — often a combination of both — leading many millennials, who are likely to be more educated than the generations before them, to seek employment in other sectors.”

Reuters (8/4, Ljunggren) reports Canada is “very keen” on concluding talks to renegotiate NAFTA as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said Saturday, “amid signs of progress after months of delays.” Asked whether an August deadline was realistic after a Mexican official “expressed optimism that some kind of agreement could be reached by the end of the month,” Freeland told reporters, “I and Canada are very, very keen to get it done as quickly as possible.”

Unemployment Rate Fell In July. (08/07/2018)

The Labor Department announced last Friday that 157,000 jobs were added in July and the unemployment rate fell to 3.9 percent, down from 4 percent in June. The AP (8/3, Rugaber) reported, “with the U.S. unemployment rate near a five-decade low, companies are looking harder for employees,” and “Americans with fewer skills are...benefiting from hiring managers’ desperation.” In addition to the record-low unemployment rate for those without a high school degree, “after remaining elevated for years after the Great Recession, the number of part-time workers who would prefer full-time work has fallen nearly 13 percent in the past year and now stands at 4.6 million,” according to the AP, which says “that is the fewest in 11 years and means part-time workers are getting more hours.”

Trump, Officials Tout Strong GDP Report. (07/31/2018)

In a tweet early Sunday, President Trump touted last week’s GDP report, writing, “The biggest and best results coming out of the good GDP report was that the quarterly Trade Deficit has been reduced by $52 Billion and, of course, the historically low unemployment numbers, especially for African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Women.”

Bloomberg News (7/26, Leonard) reported USTR Lighthizer “said it’s possible Nafta partners will reach a tentative agreement next month.” In congressional testimony, Lighthizer “said the timetable would meet the Mexican objective of having President Enrique Pena Nieto sign a new North American Free Trade Agreement before he leaves office in December.” However, Lighthizer told the Senate Appropriations Committee that Canada could be the sticking point in reaching a new deal, saying, “I don’t believe that they’ve compromised in the same way the United States has or Mexico has.”

Kudlow: Talks Ongoing About Second Round Of Tax Cuts. (07/31/2018)

Asked on Fox News’ Fox & Friends (7/25) about a possible second round of tax cuts, National Economic Council Director Kudlow said, “2.0 follows 1.0, and 1.0 has been a smashing success. The US economy is booming, roaring. We are the hottest in the world. Capital is coming to us, capital flowing to the US. We want to look at 2.0, we haven’t figured out all of the specifics yet, lots of great discussions internally in the White House and also with Ways and Means’ Kevin Brady and others. A lot of different things on the table, maybe make some personal tax cuts permanent, maybe help middle-class people to save more for health and education, maybe even index the capital gains tax for inflation. ... These are some of the things being discussed.”

Small Business MarketingStudy Finds Products With More Content On Amazon Outrank Competitors. (08/07/2018)

Chain Store Age (8/2, Amato) reported that according to a study from Salsify, products with more robust content “not only outrank merchandise with less content a majority of the time,” but “they are also the most frequently purchased items.” The study found “products with significantly more reviews will convert at a higher rate and outrank its top competitor 58% of the time.” The same is true for listings “with images (53%), and those with bullets (51%).” In addition, “Product pages with top-tier Amazon sales ranks have 64% more images, on average.”

MarketersMEDIA (7/25) reported Capital One Spark Business recently released data indicating that “76 percent of small and local business owners face problems when it comes to marketing their business.” The research also showed that 39 percent of respondents “say that they haven’t conducted any marketing activities in the past six months.”

Retailers Work To Attract Big Advertisers To Compete With Amazon Ad Revenue. (07/31/2018)

In an article about retailers “working aggressively to attract big advertisers to their websites in a bid to drive sales,” Reuters (7/26, Thomasson, Naidu) reported Amazon and Alibaba “pioneered replicating” supermarkets’ strategy of placing products in the busiest sections of their stores “on their websites by mining data to target advertising at selected customers or groups. Amazon ad revenue alone could jump to $6.6 billion by 2019 from $2.8 billion last year, according to JPMorgan.”

Forbes (7/12, Arora) reports that Small Business Administration 7(a) loans have reached an all-time high, with nearly one-third going to minority business owners. Five years ago, the figure was at 27%. This indicates “growth in entrepreneurship among Hispanic, Asian, and African American populations.” SBA loans “are a good source of capital for startups and companies with little credit history or less than stellar credit ratings.”

Amazon Delivery Service Partners Program Is An Opportunity For Small Businesses. (07/10/2018)

Small Business Trends (7/5, Guta) reports Amazon is looking to outsource package delivery as demand grows, leading to its Delivery Service Partners program. The program “offers an opportunity for small businesses to be part of one of the most successful ecommerce companies in the world by launching their own delivery service. Amazon is looking for hundreds of entrepreneurs to join the venture.” The program “starts with a three-week comprehensive training. From the time you start your application until you get your business up and running could take anywhere from one to six months, Amazon says.” Amazon SVP of Worldwide Operations Dave Clark said in a press release, “Customer demand is higher than ever and we have a need to build more capacity. As we evaluated how to support our growth, we went back to our roots to share the opportunity with small-and-medium-sized businesses.”

Wages and BenefitsRetail Pay Not Rising With Minimum Wage. (08/07/2018)

In a piece on how retailers’ increases in minimum wages and starting pay have not generally resulted in higher pay for experienced workers, the Washington Post (8/2, Bhattarai) said retailers “have made headlines for raising their minimum hourly wages in quick succession – CVS to $11, Costco to $13, Target to $15 by 2020.” But “the average hourly wage paid to retail workers dropped to $18.58 in June, from $18.65 a month earlier.” Grant Thornton Chief Economist Diane Swonk said, “Managers are being squeezed out. ... Companies are taking what used to be high-skilled, high-paid jobs and turning them into lower-skilled, lower-paying jobs.” According to the Post, “That shift, she said, has been particularly pronounced in retail, where companies are making do with fewer workers to offset narrowing profit margins. The rise of sites like Amazon.com have meant traditional retailers have had to slash prices – and costs – to keep up.”

Neil Romano, chairman of the National Council on Disability, wrote for The Hill (7/31) that an “archaic provision” in the Fair Labor Standards Act called 14(c) “permits employers to obtain a certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor and pay people with disabilities in their workforce less than the minimum wage,” and today, “approximately 164,000 Americans with disabilities receive sub-minimum wages.” He argued, “We can no longer afford an economy that leaves an entire group of people unemployed or underutilized.”

Bloomberg BNA (7/26, Alder) reported that 11 states and Washington, DC, led by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood (D) and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D), are suing the Labor Department, arguing that it “violated federal rulemaking procedures when it expanded small business access to group health insurance.” The attorneys general also allege that the final rule “violates the Affordable Care Act and federal employee benefits law,” and “say it is an attempt by the Trump administration to dismantle the ACA.”

The Wall Street Journal (7/17, Rubin, Tergesen, Subscription Publication) reported that lawmakers are seeking bipartisan agreement on legislation that could result in the biggest changes to the nation’s retirement savings since 2006. Lawmakers are starting with the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act, or RESA, which is sponsored in the Senate by Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch and Ranking Member Ron Wyden. The bill has support from both financial firms and AARP, which called it “an important step to improving retirement policy.” House Republicans, who plan to make retirement savings part of their “Tax Reform 2.0” package, may take some parts from the legislation and add their own elements.

Wages Remain Stagnant Despite Low Unemployment. (07/17/2018)

The New York Times (7/13, Cohen) reports, “Corporate profits have rarely swept up a bigger share of the nation’s wealth, and workers have rarely shared a smaller one.” During the Great Recession “and much of its aftermath, when many Americans were grateful to receive a paycheck instead of a pink slip, jobs and raises were in short supply.” But now, “complaints of labor shortages” are common and “workers have some leverage to push for more. Yet many are far from making up all the lost ground” as wages remain little improved.

White House Has Declared War On Poverty “Largely Over And A Success.” (07/17/2018)

The Washington Post (7/13, Stein, Jan) reports that though “Republicans for years have proclaimed the federal government’s decades-old War on Poverty a failure,” the Trump Administration “is pitching a new message on anti-poverty programs, saying efforts that Republicans had long condemned as ineffective have already worked.” In a report this week, the White House “declared the War on Poverty ‘largely over and a success,’” and said that the “booming economy is the best path upward for those who remain in poverty.”

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